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Below
are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about
patent searching. If you have an additional questions please CLICK
HERE to send us your question. Someone will get back to you
as soon as possible.
Why do a patent search?
The patent process
can be expensive, so the last thing you want to do is spend a lot of
money preparing and filing an application when there is easy to find
knock-out prior art that will prevent a patent, or at the very least
make any patent that is obtained extremely narrow. For this reason
many inventors and businesses will choose to begin the process by
paying for some kind of patent search. If knock-out prior art is
found then the expense of a patent application has been saved. If no
serious road blocks are found the patent search can and will normally
lead to a better, stronger patent application and potentially
smoother application process. The reason a patent search leads to a
better, strong patent application is because the first application
filed is absolutely critical. All aspects of your invention must be
disclosed, nothing new can be added without compromising the all
important filing date (aka priority date). After having done a search
the initial disclosure can be specifically written to carefully
define your invention so as to focus on what is most likely the
patentable feature or components. |
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Who can do a
patent search?
Anyone can do a patent search using the online Patent Office
database, but this database only contains patents issued since 1976,
so such a search is not complete. Indeed, many times people who come
to us for a patent application will say that they have already
conducted a patent search themselves and have found nothing, and/or
they will say that they have never seen anything like it in the
industry. Individual efforts by inventors to search the online Patent
Office database are helpful, and such study should be undertaken by
every inventor. Nevertheless, the best and most reliable patent
search will be one that is done by a professional who is intimately
familiar with both advanced searching techniques and the Patent
Classification System. If you are not familiar with advanced search
techniques and the Patent Classification System you are almost
certainly going to miss what you are looking for in your own search.
Every week we do searches for people who say they found nothing, and
every week we find patents that were findable in the Patent Office
database, but not located by the inventor. Sometimes these patents
are tangentially related, sometimes they are quite close and
sometimes they are exactly what the customer has invented. Yes,
occasionally we will find exactly what was believed to have been
originally invented. But this is the type of search you want. It is
better to spend a few hundred dollars now to learn about the prior
patents than to spend several thousands of dollars only to learn
later that a patent cannot be obtained.
How can I get a professional patent search?
IPWatchdog can provide you a comprehensive United States Patent
Search for $500. Our US patent search includes: (1) a search of
United States patents; (2) a search of pending United States
applications; (3) copies of all relevant patents and pending
applications found; and (4) a consultation with a patent attorney or
a retired patent examiner regarding the results of the search. To
order a seach please go to our Patent
Search Order Form.
The patent search report that you will recieve will include copies of
the most relevant US patents that have been found (usually at least
15 to 20 patents, sometimes more). In addition to including copies of
the full text of the patents, the search report will identify those
that seem to be the most relevant and, therefore, requiring the most
attention and review. You will be sent the search report together
with instructions that explain how to review the search and read the
relevant patents. Once you have reviewed the search you may have a
telephone follow-up consultation (to answer questions and discuss the
search) with a patent attorney or retired patent examiner.
Does a patent search come with a guarantee?
Unfortunately, no guarantees can be provided. With all patent
searches, regardless of who does the search and regardless of whether
it is conducted on site at the Patent Office, not all relevant prior
art can be guaranteed to be found. Specifically, pending US
applications are not published until 18 months after they are filed,
so even with an exhaustive patent search there is no way to be sure
that everything pending at the Patent Office has been discovered.
Additionally, when you do apply for a patent it is extremely likely
that the patent examiner will rely on at least some patents that you
did not know about. Sometimes this is due to the fact that an
examiner rejection could not be anticipated, sometimes it is due to
the fact that the description of your invention is unintentionally
overbroad, and sometimes it is because an examiner will weave
together multiple patents to make a rejection. Receiving a rejection
from a patent examiner is as normal and common as paying taxes every
April 15th. The key to obtaining a patent is to have an application
with sufficient disclosure (both broadly defining and narrowly
defining your invention) so that if an examiner does make a rejection
or find prior art that you can amend your application as necessary to
satisfy the examiner and obtain a patent. Therefore, it is important
to understand that the goal of a patent search, therefore, is not to
guarantee that there is no relevant prior art that will bar
patentability, but rather to investigate whether pursuing with the
expense of a patent application makes sense.
What about invention submission companies?
While IPWatchdog is not the only company that can provide you a
competent patent search, you should beware searches provided by
invention submission companies. We frequently hear from individuals
who paid $800 or more for what an invention submisison company
claimed was a patent search. All to frequently we also hear that
there existed prior art that should have been found, sometimes an
exact or nearly exact replica of what was believed to be invented.
Part of the invention submission scam is to tell you what you want to
hear. They tell you that they are excited to work with you and
recommend a patent search that will cost around $800. Then they come
back with great news, they cannot find any patents that relate to
your invention. This should be a red flag. It is virtually impossible
to look and not find a single patent that is relevant. This is not to
say that a patent search is likely to find your invention, but there
are over 7,000,000 issued utility patents now and, therefore, it
would be quite rare for an invention to address a problem never
before considered by anyone. The point is, whether you go through
IPWatchdog or not, you want a real patent search. If you do not get a
real patent search you are not only wasting the money spent on the
search, but you quite possibly will be lead to incorrectly believe
that you should spend many thousands of dollars to attempt to obtain
a patent. For more information about invention scams see The
Truth About Invention Submission Companies.
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